Review: DEX: Castle Ink #1

DEX: Castle Ink #1 by Amy Davies

My rating: 2 of 5 stars

The hero is a big asshole.
Our heroine is a fool who serves as a doormat for the hero to step on.
He still loves his dead wife and became a womanizer after her death.
He rubs the women in the face of the heroine and humiliates her constantly.
She is a poor second choice ever, a replacement. She lives in the house of the deceased wife and even names her daughter with the name of the ex.
I found it hard to swallow his sudden passion for her. I was not convinced. He always despised the love of our heroine and made other choices.
She's always been left behind.
But we have an HEA.

I just buried my heart.

There will never be another woman for me. No other woman will own my heart.

But with me being with Fiona, I couldn’t admit that I stopped seeing her as a little sister when she was around fourteen; I was eighteen at the time.

She told me that she couldn’t be around me and Fiona living happily together. It hurt her heart.

Addy gives in to fighting me as I rip her clothes off and I remove my boxers. We make love right there on the sofa, in front on the blazing fire. After I feel her third orgasm pulsing through her body, I finally let go.

“It should never have happened, Ads.” She flinches at my nickname for her.

I push her away but it hurts me to be close to her, I always feel as if I am cheating on Fiona; even after three years.

“I needed to forget and you were there. Easy.”

I think of my love for Fiona as well. I know that she is gone but she will always be with me.

The family I wanted with Fiona.

Addison has always loved you and was always there for you. But you brushed aside her feelings for Fiona.

...but you enjoyed rubbing it in my face that you were fucking every other girl but me, to what? Hide your feelings for me? That was a shitty way to do it.

...my stomach is churning at the amount of women Dex has been with since Fiona died. He used to flaunt them in front of me all the time. He knew how much he was hurting me but being the dick that he is, he ignored my feelings.

I have wanted but I had always pictured my future with Fiona.

She made it very clear that living in Fiona’s house didn’t bother her.

“I want to name her Phoebe Fiona Castle.”

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Review: Never Second Best

Never Second Best by Kenna Shaw Reed

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

They were perfect together, but he loved someone else.
She loved him too much and he was the model for her future relationships, but she could never forget him and resigned herself to being a friend.
He stayed with her only until the other woman decided to choose him. Then he moved his life with this woman and put her on the shelf of friendship.
He married another woman and built a family with her.
He was blinded by love for his wife and thought she was perfect, and he was doing his best to have a perfect life and giving her everything she wanted. He did everything for her to be happy. But he was her second choice.
But his wife left him for someone else and left him with the children.
Now he needs her again.
Will she be his second choice again?
I found the story average, nothing much.

“Once a cheater, always a cheater,” his mate, Joe, recently said over beers. “She cheated on her girlfriend with you, now she’s gone back to her.”

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He still loved her too much to hate her, and at any time before today, if she had turned around and come back home … Despite what his friends and family would say, he would have welcomed her back with no questions.

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Gorgeous, sweet Lucy. Their friendship became more, only to stall when he knew he was not ready to get over his teenage love.

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An honorable woman who respected his marriage and didn’t want to intrude when it fell apart.
Lucy sent him a single text after Grace left, “I’m sorry.”

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“I need to know how to make sure they know I love them and would never leave them, that they are safe with me and I need to know how to convince community services that Matt should stay with us.”

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The moment she saw Seth’s reaction when Grace arrived answered why it never worked out between them. Lucy never stood a chance while ever he still felt that way about another woman.

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“Part of you wants to replace the ex-Mrs Greenwood and help Seth by being the new woman in his life. I mean it, Lucy. You have the most beautiful heart of anyone I know and deserve more than to be someone’s consolation prize.”

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He was a good man, the best husband and father he could possibly be, how could she do this, he cried.
Finally in the small hours of the morning, he awoke with the ring crushed within his fist. Too soon to put it away, but no longer fit for his left hand. The ring was a little tight on his right hand but would now be the start of him moving on.

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Lucy fell in love with Seth madly and deeply and from that first weekend away, they were inseparable.
For almost two months her first love was also her soulmate. They shared the same morals and values. Wanted the same things out of life and put others before themselves.
She saw all the years ahead of them and believed in all the moments that would make up their lives together.

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Excuses about being too busy at work to see her morphed into the “it’s not you, it’s me.”
Only when she met Grace and saw the way he looked at the other woman, did Lucy realize it wasn’t even Seth that stood between them. He wasn’t free to fall in love with her.
She had fallen in love with a man already emotionally and deeply committed to someone else.

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“I accepted a long time ago how you felt about her and about me. You could say, you put me in my place and I would never overstep. Especially not with the kids.”

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“You loved her so much, I don’t know how she could do this to you.”

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“She never loved me as much as I adored her, worshipped the ground she walked on.”

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“No, it’s true. You and I never stood a chance because in the back of my mind I was waiting for her to come back. When she did, I was so grateful she finally chose me, that I didn’t want to see all the signs. It took a while but I had to accept that she settled for me and once she got me out of her system, it was time to move on.”

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“I’m not worried about you, she deserves better than to be your rebound.”

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“Lucy, what will it take for you to trust me and give us another go?”
“This,” she massaged the wedding ring still on his right hand, “Isn’t making me feel like you’ve moved on.”

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He didn’t need to see the ring, but wasn’t ready to throw it away, yet.

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Stripping Her Defenses (Ex Ops #2) by Jessie Lane

Stripping Her Defenses (Ex Ops #2) by Jessie Lane

Kindle Edition, 202 pages

Published October 31st 2014 by Whiskey Girls Publishing

Blurb:

Ex Ops Series: Second Chance Romance with a hint of Suspense 

He can't change the scars on her body... 

but fate will give him a second chance to mend the scars he put on her heart. 

Riley Sullivan and the Ex Ops Team are headed to Miami undercover… as bikers. Following up a lead, the men will perform their investigation acting as members of the Regulators Motorcycle Club with the club’s permission. Surrounded by hardcore bikers and investigating missing strippers, Riley finds the last person he ever expected to see again—his ex-wife. 

Kara Sullivan left the man she loved after a tragic accident cost them their unborn son. After years of therapy, she’s come to grips with the loss and has re-emerged from the pain a brand new person. That doesn’t mean she’s ready to face the man who inadvertently broke her heart, and who she’s hurt in return. 

Riley has never stopped loving her and he never will. He’s ready to fix their marriage and move on with their lives, however Kara’s reluctance to renew their relationship isn’t their only problem. Danger lurks just around the corner… and there’s a chance she could disappear permanently. 

Second book in the Ex Ops Series - but can be read as a stand alone.

Review in Portuguese and English:

UPDATE: Relido em 10 de fevereiro de 2017.

Os heróis se separam após trágico acidente em que heroína perde o bebê enquanto herói está em uma missão na qual ele se voluntariou.

Enquanto ela enfrenta problemas com depressão, baixa auto estima e a mania de perfeição, nosso herói foge dos problemas e cada vez passa mais tempo fora de casa em missões. Mas desta vez ele exagera e não está lá na hora que ela mais precisava dele.

Quando ele volta para uma casa vazia ele se dá conta da burrada que fez.

Oito anos mais tarde eles se reencontram e posso dizer que o encontro é explosivo.

A história além de muito bem escrita tem aqueles elementos que adoramos: cenas quentes entre o casal, ciúmes, ação, tiroteio, explosões, caras malvados sendo perseguidos, deliciosos motoqueiros, ex militares, machos alfas marcando território deles e uma mulher renascida e cheia de confiança.

Gostei muito e recomendo!

SPOILER: Adorei que ela continuou com a vida e teve um relacionamento com Ice. 

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The heroes break up after tragic accident in which heroine loses her baby while hero is on a mission in which he volunteered.

While she is facing problems with depression, low self esteem and the mania of perfection, our hero hides their problems and spend more time away from home on missions. But this time he exaggerates and he is not there at the time that she needed him most.

When he returns to an empty home he realizes the mistake he made.

Eight years later they meet again and I can say that the meeting is explosive.

The very well written story has those elements that we love: hot scenes between the couple, jealousy, action, shooting, explosions, bad guys being chased, delicious bikers, ex military, alpha males marking their territory and a woman reborn and full of confidence.

I enjoyed and recommend.

SPOILER: I love that she continued with her life and had a relationship with Ice.

Secret Maneuvers (Ex Ops #1) by Jessie Lane

Secret Maneuvers (Ex Ops #1) by Jessie Lane 

Kindle Edition, 298 pages

Published June 13th 2013 by Jessie Lane

Blurb:

Some mistakes from the past haunt us forever... unless fate steps in with a second chance. 

One 'dear John' letter haunts Bobby Baker's every living moment. It’s the letter he stupidly wrote to his high school sweetheart, Belle, right after he left to join the Army. The letter that he told her that he wasn't so sure if they were ready for forever yet. But before he can let her know that the letter, and his second thoughts, are nothing but a mistake, she up and disappears from the small Georgia town they were both raised in.

Fifteen years later, Belle unknowingly walks back into Bobby's life when her job as an ATF Agent forces her to work with a group of men secretly headed by the CIA to help her track down whoever is involved in funneling black market weapons to a drug cartel in Mexico. 

Bobby will use this mission to try and soothe Belle's hurt feelings while proving to her that their love is still meant for forever. He'll use every dirty trick he's learned since he joined the Army to maneuver her back into his life for the long haul. But Belle's not making it easy as she keeps him at arm's length in the hopes that mistakes of her own never come to light.

Review in Portuguese and English:

UPDATE: Relido em 9 de fevereiro de 2017.

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Os heróis namoram e ele vai para o exército enquanto ela aguarda completar 18 anos para enfim se casarem. Mas o herói manda uma carta acabando o relacionamento e a heroína é obrigada a partir da cidade para fugir do pai abusivo.

Eles se reencontram anos mais tarde em uma missão, ela é uma agente ATF e ele é um agente de operações especiais.

Enquanto perseguem bandidos a história entre o casal vai se desenrolando com muita tensão, ação e cenas explosivas. Segredos são revelados e as faíscas voam entre os dois.

Uma boa história que prende a atenção do leitor e nós somos fisgados ao universo criado pela autora.

Recomendo!

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The heroes have been dating and he goes to the army while she waits to complete 18 years to finally get married. But the hero sends a letter ending their relationship and the heroine is forced to leave the city to escape the abusive father.

They are reunited years later on a mission, she is an ATF agent and he is an agent of special operations.

While chasing bad guys the story between the couple will unfolding with a lot of tension and action scenes. Secrets are revealed and the sparks flying between the two.

A good story that holds the reader's attention and we are hooked to the universe created by the author.

Recommend!